CHAPTER EIGHT
Raven flung an arm over his eyes, cursing beneath his breath as the telephone on the bedside table rang repeatedly. Since last night, he had been in a foul temper; he had called himself ten kinds of fool. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but he loved Sage, which was why her betrayal had hurt so much.
But that had been nothing compared to how he’d felt when he had seen the hurt on her pretty face when she had realized he had only made love to her out of vengeance. That was what he told himself, but a part of him knew he had made love to her because he wanted¾no, he needed¾ to have that memory with him for the rest of his life. She was like a virus in his blood; he only had to shut his eyes and she was laughing gaily up at him in his mind’s eyes, her brown eyes twinkling and sparkling with health and vitality.
She had looked a bit wan, he remembered, with a worried frown; and this was before she had even seen him, so he didn’t think that was from the shock of his appearance. Her taking his watch had made him feel used, which had hurt to no end.
“You really are ten kinds of fool, Raven old boy. She and her friends were just out for fun, flashing strangers in the street for, Pete’s sake! And you had to hand over your heart like a damn idiot.”
The phone rang again and he ignored it; whoever was calling from reception could go straight to hell; he didn’t feel like talking to anyone¾ well anyone apart from a certain brown-eyed, sad-faced blond.
Whatever else she may be, he loved her, he realized. If nothing else, he owed her an apology for last night and he had to make it right. He was a billionaire, with holdings in almost every exotic country in the world, but for the past two months, nothing and no place excited him. If he didn’t want to live the rest of his life in dull monotony, he needed Sage.
With a muttered oath, he shoved to his feet and stalked into the bathroom. In two seconds, he had brushed and shaved and he immediately grabbed his wallet and strode out the door. He was waiting for the lift when it arrived bearing two angry women¾ Sage’s friends!
The redhead took one look at him and aimed a blow straight at his nose. He deftly caught the tiny fist, surprised at the force she had put into the blow. That would have broken his nose and probably knocked him out!
“What the hell?”
“You have a damn nerve!” the petite blond with pretty blue eyes spat.
“I don’t follow!” he said, releasing the redhead’s hand and turning warily to face the other little dynamo.
“You made her cry! Again!” the woman spat angrily.
No prizes for guessing who ‘she’ was.
“I, um, I know. I was actually on my way to her now¾”
Both women immediately aligned their bodies in front of the lift, effectively blocking his path.
“Why? So you can torture her some more over some useless piece of trinket?” the redhead asked.
“It’s not useless. My mother gave it to me with her last dying breath,” he protested automatically.
Silence.
“I was actually on my way to see Sage and apologize for behaving so dreadfully,” he said, encouraged by their silence.
The redhead threw her head back and laughed harshly. “Well, good luck finding her. She left last night!”
His heart skipped a beat. “Left? For where?”
“Parts unknown! She wouldn’t talk to anyone, which is all your fault!”
Raven felt every last trace of energy drain out of his body and he slowly sank to the floor, his back against the wall. How was he going to survive losing her? Would she even be back?
As though she had read his mind, the blond said, “And she took a year’s worth of clothing with her when she left, so good luck finding her!”
“And for the record, Sage only took that useless piece of trinket because we dared her to steal all the cash in a stranger’s wallet. She took your watch instead and never sold it!” the redhead flung over her shoulder.
With a shake of their collective heads, both friends disappeared back into the lift, muttering audibly about insensitive men who deserved to be strung up, hung drawn and quartered.
She could be anywhere in the world! How would he find her, he wondered.
Well, how did you find her the last time? his mind wanted to know.
Galvanized into action, he raced for the lift and dashed downstairs to the lobby. He hailed the first cab he saw and headed straight for the airport. He would look at the cameras.
The moment the taxi pulled up at the airport curb, Raven flung a few notes at the cabman and dashed into the terminal, his head swinging around wildly. He grabbed the first security man he saw and shoved a thousand dollars into his palm as he demanded to see the cameras.
“Whatever for? Someone pick your pocket?” the man asked as he hurriedly pocketed the money.
“I need to find someone, my…wife! She left in a huff and headed here and she could be halfway around the world. I just wanna see what flight she boarded.”
“You say she was pissed?” the man asked musingly, staring off into the distance.
“Yes!” Raven affirmed impatiently. If he could just find out what plane she had boarded, he could jet on his private jet and be waiting at her destination airport by the time her plane landed.
“This…wife, she wouldn’t happen to be blond, somewhat chubby, with sad brown eyes would she?” the security man asked.
“That’s her! You saw her! What plane was she on?”
“She’s right over there,” the man said, nodding toward the waiting crowd.
Raven turned slowly and felt his stomach flip upside down; Sage sat a few feet away, weeping openly into her handkerchief as though her heart was broken.
“Now, if you had anything to do with the way that poor girl’s weeping, mate, then it’s a good thing she left you,” the security man informed him huffily before swanning off with his nose in the air.
* * *
Sage was certain this was what it felt like to be a homeless hobo. She had packed up almost her entire belongings and now she just sat at the airport confused. She had wanted to go to Spain, back to where it had all started and just put things in perspective, but now… She missed her flight and she couldn’t think of anywhere else to go.
Someone sank onto the seat beside her, but she kept her eyes focused on her palms, refusing to look up. She didn’t feel like chatting and if this idiot couldn’t tell then¾
“I’m sorry,” a familiar voice said quietly.
Sage’s shocked eyes flew to his face. Raven! Her stupid heart did a happy jig until she sternly calmed it down and glared at him with all the hatred in her heart.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she spat.
“I never meant to hurt you. I was hurting myself. I felt used and stupid and I lashed out. I was wrong.”
“Go to hell!” she spat and sprang to her feet to leave. He wouldn’t let her.
His hand clamped about her wrist like a manacle and then he dropped to his knees, his eyes trained on her face. Everyone turned to look at the pair of them, the waiting crowd giggling as they obviously waited for some romantic proposal.
“You’re embarrassing me!” she whispered furiously, trying to tug her arm from his grip. It was no use; it might as well be a handcuff for all the give it had.
“Then sit back down. Please, Sage.”
She slowly sank back onto her seat and he released her wrist, but he remained kneeling.
“Sit,” she ordered furiously, her face suffused with embarrassed color.
“I can’t. I don’t deserve to. I have been an ass. I shouldn’t have said what I did, especially because it wasn’t true. I was hurting, so I guess I just wanted to hurt you back.”
Sincerity blazed back at her from his eyes and she relaxed a little against her seat, feeling some of the hurt gradually seeping away just like that. The man had a scary power over her.
“I was wrong, Sage. I¾ I love you,” he admitted quietly. “And I guess I just felt you took that watch to make some money, but you never sold it after two months. That alone told me it was a keepsake for you. My mother gave me that watch before she died and that’s all it was to me; of sentimental value. But now I realize I would cast a thousand of it away before I would lose you. I want to hear you laugh again and hear your soft cries as I¾”
The elderly gentleman seating beside them cleared his throat loudly and ruffled his newspaper.
Sage giggled, unable to help herself at the look of exasperation on Raven’s handsome face.
“Why don’t we get out of here?” he suggested.
Sage shook her head, smiling happily at him, “You said you love me?”
“With all my heart.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re you, and because I can’t help myself,” he told her softly.
Tears sprang to her eyes again; this time, tears of such joy that her entire face glowed with it.
Seeing the tears, Raven held her fingers in his and asked quietly, “Will you make me the happiest man on earth, Sage, and be my wife?”
Now the tears were falling down her cheeks unchecked, her heart thumping in her throat as she stared at him in shock.
“Please,” he whispered when he thought she was hesitating.
She wasn’t hesitating; she was speechless.
“There is nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you; to have you in my arms and to have you as the mother of my children. You do want kids, right?”
Sage nodded happily, her hand going protectively to her midriff.
“Say yes, Sage. I don’t have a ring right now, but I swear the minute we get out of here, I’m going to get you the biggest, honking diamond I can find!”
Sage dissolved into laughter and threw her arms around his neck, loving him as he slowly rose to his feet, taking her with him. She leaned back in his arms and grinned at him, “Yes I love you, and yes, I’ll marry you.”
He leaned down and took her lips in a kiss so infinitely tender that it would have melted her into a puddle right there if his powerful hands hadn’t been holding her up.
When he lifted his dark head, she smiled at him, “And about those kids, how do you feel about twins?”
He grinned happily, “Well, if it’s twins you want, I hear we have to make love at least thrice a day to get twins. I’ll be happy to oblige you, ma’am,” he said, leerily.
She laughed. He really was something else. “Slow down tiger. Before you start rotating the mattress in your mind, I’m already pregnant. Twins!”
His heart skipped a beat against her chest and then he grinned, looking happier than she had ever seen him as he said, “I must be the luckiest man alive.”
No, Sage corrected inwardly as she hugged him tightly. She was the luckiest woman alive, she decided, as her eyes shut.
THE END